The Ultimate Enemy
by Illeana Starbright
Summary: After accidentally ending up in his shadowy future, Danny Fenton finds himself on the run from his evil counterpart, Dan Phantom. An AU of the episode The Ultimate Enemy.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Just a couple quick notes before we begin. First of all, I own none of the characters, places, situations, ect that you recognize from Danny Phantom. If I did, I wouldn't be writing FanFiction. Secondly, this story will have a sequel (which does not have a title as of now). Now, without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

Danny was feeling horribly out of his depth and he didn't like the feeling. Clockwork's medallion was somewhere inside his body, however that worked, and his only help was back in the present while he was still in the future in front of a memorial for his family, who were apparently dead. Worse yet, he was tied up with ropes made a glowing green ectoplasm in front of his evil future self. His evil future self was standing, or rather looming, in front of him with a smirk on his face. His first instinct was to rip the ropes apart, other ghosts had tried to tie him up without lasting success, but an attempt that sent him toppling over on his side told him that wasn't an option. Not good.

The boy watched as his evil future's smirk widened, stomach twisting uncomfortably. This was worse than anything Danny had ever faced before but that didn't mean anything in particular to him. Since he'd developed his ghost powers courtesy of the Fenton Ghost Portal, Danny had ended up in dozens of, at the time, impossible situations and still come out on top. Somehow, this one felt different. It might be because the fourteen year old was facing a totally psychotic future version of himself or it could be because "They're dead?"

"Dead and dust," came the reply, monotone almost shifting into mocking. Danny felt his teeth clench and his eyes water at the thought of his family and friends, his whole world, dead a long gone. His heart clenched painfully as he tried to truly conceive what the death of their friends and family would do to a person. Maybe that was why his future self had gone off the deep end. Would the deaths of his parents, Jazz, Tucker, and Sam really turn Danny into this? It was a horrifying possibility. "But there's nothing you can do to stop it."

"What are you talking about?" Danny demanded, trying to squirm upright but not quite managing it since his arms were pinned to his sides.

"You haven't figured it out yet?" his future self flat out mocked. "Clockwork sent you here to change the future. I'm going to make sure everything stays the same. Because being me? It's great." Danny shuddered at the low growl and made another attempt at ripping free from his bonds, despite knowing that it wasn't going to do any good.

"You can't do this," Danny yelled as the smirking psychopath snatched him up by the ropes.

"Who's going to stop me?" his future self mocked, shaking the struggling boy a little. "You? I don't think so." A glowing green rip that led to the Ghost Zone opened behind Danny's head at a flick of the psycho's free hand and the boy thrashed harder, knowing that if he didn't get free now he might never be able to prevent this future.

"He might not be able to stop you," a familiar defiant voice snapped. "But I can."

Danny didn't have to see the figure speaking to know it was Valerie and the blast of red energy that sliced through the ropes, allowing his battered body to drop to the ground, confirmed his suspicions. "Oh really?" his future self mocked as Danny rolled to his feet and forced the change to rush silently through him. "You've failed so many times already. What makes you think this attempt will be any different?"

"Maybe it won't," Valerie replied, voice grim. "But that isn't gonna stop me from trying." The psychopath laughed and Valerie fired another ray of ecto-energy from her blaster that he simply stepped out of the way of. Danny lifted his own hands a released a blast of green ecto-energy that actually did connect, his future self whirling around to face the boy with a snarl. Danny probably would have been a smudge on the cracked ground had Valerie not landed a direct hit on the psychopath's shoulder followed by one to his chest as he spun. Danny moved as if to help but Valerie's next words froze him in midair. "Run Danny!" she yelled even as the psychopath grabbed her and threw her backwards. He hesitated, torn, as Valerie hit a wall but the ghost hunter was quickly on her feet and he could almost feel the weight of her glare despite the fact that he couldn't see her facial expression through the helmet. "Get outta here!" She emphasized her point by aiming a blast of ecto-energy at him instead of his psychopathic future. That action might cost her the battle but it was also enough to convince Danny to flee. If Valerie was wasting time shooting at him then she could handle his future self. He hoped.

Danny was honest enough with himself to admit that he was terrified. He was trapped in what appeared to be the bleak wasteland of a future with his psychopathic future self out to make sure his friends and family died and that was only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Who knew how many ghosts, ghost hunters, and other assorted things would be out to get him here. The world blurring by below him was a wreck, the kind of thing you saw in those cheesy disaster movies that were supposed to take place during the end of the world. There wasn't a tree of building in sight and the roads had vanished as if the ground they had been resting on had simply eaten them. Danny sure hoped the rest of the world didn't look like this because if it did, it was going to be a lot harder to hide from, well... himself.

Exhaustion quickly lowered both his speed and altitude until he was skimming just above the ground, still moving by sheer will power. At last he hit the ground with a thump, his fear not enough to push his worn body any further. He skidded a little across the dried and pack earth, wincing as the motion opened new scrapes on his skin. Hadn't he suffered enough today? The boy tried to push himself up but his arms gave out and his vision blurred. He struggled to push away the blackness that was threatening but he was just too tired. The last thing he saw before his heavy eyelids drifted shut was the rings of light that signaled his transformation.

* * *

Dan Phantom dropped the unconscious body of Valerie Gray to the ground. She'd improved her ghost hunting skills over the years but no one, not even Clockwork, could handle him. Not any more. He'd become too powerful. He'd defeated every enemy in his path, ghost and human. The Guys in White were nothing more than a bad memory and what was left of the Ghost Zone either trembled in fear or bowed at his approach. That his pathetic past self had managed to escape him was a serious dent on his reputation.

Stepping over Valerie's very still body, he scanned the surrounding area, searching for one of Clockwork's medallions. It didn't really matter if his past self was running free so long as he could get to the past and make sure everything went according to plan. Dan scanned his surroundings and then let out a low growl when he noticed that the medallions the past versions of his friends had been wearing had been shattered. Valerie. The ghost hunter had gotten the best of him after all. Now he had to catch up to his past self in order to obtain the final amulet and make his way into the past. That was terribly inconvenient. The dark figure turned a furious gaze on the still form of Valerie, one hand outstretched.

The ghost hunter's green eyes flickered open just as flames engulfed her. Her mouth opened to scream but nothing came out as she turned into nothing more than ash. That was one less problem to deal with when he returned to what was left of Amity Park. That meant there was only one more thing for Dan to do before he left this place behind. There was only one permanent Ghost Portal left on earth and that was in the basement of Fenton Works. Once Dan destroyed that, the only way in and out of the Ghost Zone would be through naturally occurring portals that could throw you who knows where or the ones he could open. Once that was completed his past self wouldn't be able to get into the Ghost Zone and try to appeal to the so called better natures of the ghosts inside.

The Fright Knight was waiting for Dan outside what remained of Fenton Works, purple flames still fluctuating around him. "The city is yours," the Knight said, bowing a little. The Fright Knight didn't necessarily do subservience but he could manage to be respectful when the situation called for it. Dealing with Dan Phantom was always a situation that required respect.

Dan growled in response and shoved by the other ghost, going intangible and passing through the door. His old home was a wreck. Thick coatings of dust covered the raggedy looking furniture. Wooden doors had been swollen and warped over the years and there were spiderwebs almost large and thick enough to trap a human hanging from the ceilings. Valerie Gray and her father hadn't cared for the house, just the supplies in the basement that they needed to keep the ghost shield up, not that it had done them any good in the end. Both the Grays were dead, never able to bother him again.

He'd been in this building earlier, rising from the ground in the basement after destroying the shield with his ghostly wail, but he hadn't paid attention to the condition of the building nor had he bothered to destroy the ghost portal. He'd become complacent after going so long without coming up against someone able to defy him and it had cost him what was supposed to be an easy victory. Instead of ensure that he would still exist in the future, Dan had given his past self a chance to change it. Everything had suddenly gotten much more complicated.

A single blast destroyed the Fenton Ghost Portal and Dan turned to face the Fright Knight who was lingering over the crumbling steps. If the ghost had an expression under that mask, Dan was fairly certain that it was one akin to someone watching a rabid dog. "I have a task for you," the former hero said.

"You want me to track down your past self?" the Fright Knight questioned, trying to fill in the rest of the sentence. Dan resisted the urge to destroy the ghost completely. The Fright Knight might be annoying but he had his uses. At least for now.

"No," he growled. "I want you to find Nocturne. Leave my past self to me."


	2. Chapter 2

The Earth was a wreck. Danny had woken who knows how many hours later only to discover the sky was no lighter than it done before. Dark clouds loomed overhead by the ground was dry and cracked, as if he was in the desert instead of Minnesota. The boy licked chapped lips and wondered how long it had been since his home state had seen water. The very thought made his throat ache. His head already throbbed, probably because of dehydration, and his mouth was dry. Danny pushed himself into a sitting position with shaking arms and scanned his surroundings, searching for any sign of danger. His psychopathic future was still out there, possibly hunting him, and despite the fact that his ghost sense wasn't picking up on anything, Danny still didn't feel safe. He guessed he probably wasn't going to feel safe until he got home and saw for himself that his friends and family were healthy and whole.

It took a few minutes for Danny to gather enough strength to stand. His legs shook as he spread his arms in an attempt to find his balance and his head spun. He wobbled and then ended up on his knees trying not to retch. His stomach twisted with nausea and his arms shook, threatening to give out on him. Danny gasped for breath and squeezed his eyes closed, struggling to gain control of his body. For a moment he thought it wasn't going to work. His arms shook worse than ever before he managed to get control and push himself upright again.

For once, Danny's horrible bad luck wasn't acting up. There was no sign of people around him and his ghost sense wasn't telling him that there were any ghosts around. That should have relieved him but instead it made him feel as if something monstrous was creeping up on him. Amity Park couldn't go a day without some kind of ghost showing up and judging by how exhausted he'd been after the failed attempt to fend off what was supposedly his future, he couldn't be far away from what was left of his home. That meant something was seriously wrong, as if the lack of wildlife, or even plant life, didn't already tell him that.

_Okay, think Danny_, he told himself. _You need a plan._ Yeah, _right_. Because he was so good at coming up with plans. Normally he just through everything he had at a ghost until he, or Tucker or Sam, could get it into the Fenton Thermos. That wasn't going to work this time. Danny was on his own in the future with a psychotic version of his future self probably hunting him down to make sure the future was set in stone. The more he thought about the whole situation, the more hopeless he felt. He was already dehydrated, hungry, and still shaky on his legs when he managed to stand. Worse yet, the entire United States could be in the exact same condition as Minnesota. If so, then there was nowhere for Danny to hide from the guy hunting him.

"Think positive," he rasped, forcing himself to stand. His sluggish mind struggled to come up with something good in this whole situation. It wasn't easy. The list of bad things going on right now was extensive and finding a glimmer of hope was sort of like searching for a needle in a hay stack. Finding one wasn't impossible but it took almost more effort than it was worth. At last a hesitant thought reached him. Could he still go ghost? If he could, he'd be able to ward off hunger and dehydration hopefully long enough to at least find water. Warily, Danny lifted his arms and announced, still in a dry rasp, "I'm going ghost."

For a moment nothing happened. Danny felt his stomach sink towards his feet. If he couldn't transform then he might as well turn himself over to what was looking more and more like an inevitable future. Then, to his relief, the glowing rings of light appeared around his middle, sweeping upwards and downwards to transform him from Danny Fenton to Danny Phantom. Finally, some real luck. Despite how dry his throat still felt, Danny let out a little whoop of excitement and then quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He was trying not to attract attention and get himself killed.

"Well isn't this interesting?" a voice asked right on cue and Danny spun around, suddenly tense as a puff of blue slipped out of his mouth. Despite the feminine voice, he'd almost expected to see his evil older self floating there instead of what appeared to be a slightly different version of Desiree. The wish granting ghost seemed to be studying him, her red eyes curious but not malicious. Danny had stretched out his hands in front of him the instant he'd seen her, glowing green energy gather around them. He released the energy in a single blast that Desiree dodged, holding out her hands as if to show him that she was unarmed. "Be calm boy, I'm not here to fight you," she told him, sounding irritated. "At least not this you. You're a bit lost in the time stream, aren't you?"

"H-how do you know that?" Danny stammered out, green eyes wide.

"I grant wishes," Desiree replied with a scoff, as if that answered his question. In her mind it probably did but Danny was completely confused.

"I, uh," he lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck nervously before continuing. "I kinda already knew that."

Desiree sighed then as if he was the absolutely stupidest being left on the planet. "I use magic to grant people's wishes. That means I can also see when any kind of magical manipulation has been placed on a person. That makes it simple to tell that you're in the wrong timeline."

"Yeah, right," Danny agreed awkwardly, deciding to take her at her word. "So, uh, do you think you could help me?"

"Get back into your own time? Not a chance. That's a little above my pay grade," Desiree replied immediately with a dismissive wave of her hand. "If, however, someone were to make a wish to be somewhere else, I might be able to do something."

It took a minute for Danny to realize what exactly the ghost was suggesting. When he did, his eyes widened in astonishment. Desiree was actually volunteering to help him? There was something seriously wrong with the world if a ghost who'd previously tried to defeat him was willingly offering him aid. "Make up your mind quickly boy," Desiree ordered, breaking him out of his shock. "Because if you don't make a wish soon, you won't be able to." Danny really wished he didn't know what she was talking about.

The boy glanced over his shoulder quickly, fear washing over him at the sight of the ghost heading towards him. It was a little too far away for him to be completely sure who was after him, but his gut insisted that it was the psychopath. Quickly he turned back to face Desiree, knowing his eyes were probably wide and terrified, and babbled out, "I wish I was somewhere away from here, preferably some place liveable."

"As you have wished it, so shall it be," Desiree intoned, hands glowing, and her power washed over him. Just before he vanished, Danny heard an angry growl that sent shudders down his spine. Then he was suddenly crashing to the ground in front of what appeared to be some kind of lake.

"Wow," he mumbled, standing slowly and looking around. The area appeared to be deserted, a kind of gloomy mist surrounding everything, and what appeared to be rotting trees were uprooted nearby. Despite the wrecked appearance of his surroundings, the water still looking drinkable, and he had asked to be sent some place liveable. He should be able to drink it, right? Only one way to find out.

Warily, Danny crouched in front of the lake and cupped his palms before dipping them into the water. He cautiously sipped what he could out of his cupped palms, letting out a sigh of relief as cool water slid down his throat. Desiree had actually helped him. She'd sent him some place with what tasted like clean water instead of letting his older self pummel him. That was, simultaneously, a relief and a shock. Now he just had to figure out where she'd sent him.

* * *

Desiree turned to face what was quite possibly her oncoming doom with nothing short of scorn. Before the accident at the Nasty Burger, Danny Phantom had almost been revered in the ghost world for being so dedicated to the protection of humans. She, and other ghosts, hadn't appreciated been thrown back into the Ghost Zone by what was essentially a fourteen year old kid but they'd admired his commitment. Then the boy's family and friends had died and shortly after he'd gone off the deep end. Now the majority of ghosts in the Ghost Zone either hated and feared what he'd become or bowed down to him.

Desiree fell into neither category. She had been around much longer than anyone ever suspected and thus had seen regimes rise and fall. She'd even assisted in the fall of a few and she wasn't beyond making sure this one never happened. If that meant assisting a boy that would be back to hunting her down, sucking her up in a little thermos, and tossing her back into the Ghost Zone instead of letting her grant wishes once he fixed this twisted future then so be it. She would do what she had to in order to prevent Dan Phantom from ever coming into existence.

Her grudge was partially fueled by the knowledge that Dan Phantom had murdered Clockwork. The guardian of time had been one of Desiree's oldest friends, as well as being the only fully grown male she even tolerated, and Dan had turned him into nothing more than a smear on a wall. That had been the exact moment that any chance of Desiree ignoring this entire situation went down in flames. Knowing that, it had been easy to nudge a young and frightened looking Danny Phantom into wishing that he was anywhere but here before his future arrived to grab him. It was just the sort of thing to make a woman smile.

"Can I help you?" she questioned, smoothly gliding out of the way of a ball of energy Dan Phantom shot at her. He growled low in his throat, either frustrated or trying to intimidate her, but Desiree had decided long ago that she was down bowing down to men.

"Where is he?" the menace snarled but Desiree ignored his irritation, taking the time to examine her nails before answering.

"Who?"

"You know who," came the sharp reply. Desiree glanced up from her nails then and smiled a nasty little smile.

"Do I?" Dan growled and aimed another ball of energy at her. The former harem girl calmly dodged, knowing that he wasn't seriously attempting to eliminate her. At least not yet. She had information that he needed. After all, he couldn't get his past self's location out of a smear of ectoplasm on the ground.

"Where is Danny Phantom?" Dan snarled and Desiree tilted her head like a particularly curious cat.

"Oh," she said dismissively. "Him." Another low growl told her that she was dragging this game out for far too long. Time to finish this little game. "He wished he was somewhere liveable away from here, so he is." Desiree pulled up a particularly wicked smile then gathering her power around her. "I'll give you a hint though, it's near water." That being said, she vanished, heading far away from Minnesota in the opposite direction as Danny Phantom.


	3. Chapter 3

When Dan got his hands on that meddling ghost, he was going to rip her apart molecule by molecule. The former hero turned psychopath had been so close to getting his hands on his past self only to have Desiree whisk him away. He was under no illusion that Desiree hadn't done this on purpose. The female ghost had been out to get him since he'd destroyed Clockwork and it looked like she'd discovered the perfect way to do so. She'd sent his pathetic younger self somewhere near water, which could be practically anywhere on Earth. That meant he was going to need some help tracking Danny down.

His options for a good tracker were limited. Skulker was out. Rumor was that the hunter had teamed up with Technus, determined to take Dan down the next time they fought. Wulf also wasn't an option. Dan had disposed of the creature once it had gotten in his way. His actions had been regrettable, to say the least, but necessary to ensure his takeover of the Ghost Zone. Cujo, the stupid mutt that spent most of its time in puppy form, was his only choice. The dog had finally learned to obey and he was a decent tracker. While nowhere near the level of Wulf or Walker, who had also been reduced to little more than a stain, the pup would hopefully be able to catch Danny's scent.

Dan opened a portal and let out a shrill whistle and moments later a shaggy looking dog with over large paws jumped through the opening, tail swishing back and forth as he panted with excitement. Dan resisted an exasperated eye roll as he closed the portal to the Ghost Zone and turned to face Cujo. The dog yipped at him, whole body wiggling with excitement. The dog was probably the only creature in existence anymore that was genuinely happy to see Dan. It was a little strange, to say the least.

"Hey boy," he said, reaching down a hand to rub the dog's ears. Cujo yipped and proceeded to slime his gloved hand cheerfully, finally settling to gnaw on it like it was the missing chew toy that had allowed the unlikely pair to meet all those years ago. "I need you to find someone for me." The gnawing stopped instantly, the dog studying him eagerly as his tail started wagging again. Dan hesitated, unsure how he was supposed to explain to a ghost dog that he needed to find a younger version of himself. "I need you to find me," he said at last. "But from the past." In response, the dog barked and ran in a circle before sitting right in front of him. Dan let out an exasperated sigh and ran a hand through the flames that made up his hair. "Not me," he growled. "The little version of me." The dog yipped again but didn't move.

Dan pressed a hand to his head and growled. Cujo whined in response and pressed his head against the ghost's leg but showed no signs of leaving. This wasn't working. He needed a new plan. As he turned options about in his head, several of them involving tracking down Desiree and forcing answer out of her, Cujo began exploring the area, running around cheerfully with his nose to the ground. Dan ignored the dog, throwing away less plausible options, only to have Cujo's barking shake him out of his thoughts. The dog was standing a few feet away, head tilted as if he was confused. "What is it boy?" Dan asked.

The overgrown puppy leaned down to the ground to sniff at whatever scent he'd caught before bounding over to Dan and sniffing him. Cujo scrambled back to the spot almost immediately and circled it, growling as if he had found something that bothered him. The dog went back and forth between Dan and the spot before sitting between the two of them with a huff. "That scent, did you think it was me?" the ghost asked, suddenly realizing what was going on. Cujo yipped then, tail wagging as if he was excited that the human had finally figured out what was bothering him. A cruel smile crossed the sadistic ghost's face as he realized exactly who's scent Cujo had found. "I need you to track down that scent and bring him to me, understand?" Dan asked. Cujo yipped once, as if in agreement, paused to sniff the ground one more time, and then took off running.

Dan watched the streak of green vanish from sight with a wicked grin, He had a little free time until Cujo tracked down his pathetic little past self and dragged him back. That meant he had time to check up on the Fright Knight's progress. For Dan's master plan to work, he needed Danny out of the way. Since the boy possessed the only undamaged Clockwork amulet, Dan couldn't toss him into the ghost zone and use one of the other amulets to return to the past as he'd originally planned. He'd need the amulet out of that worthless little goody two shoes and he planned to use Nocturne to keep the boy asleep until the future was set in stone. He hadn't wanted to do things this way. There were too many ways this plan could go wrong, but right now it was the only one he had.

* * *

"Real funny Desiree," Danny muttered as he scowled at the sign he'd uncovered after twenty minutes of searching for any information on where the former harem girl had sent him. Welcome to Lake Eerie, the sign proudly proclaimed. Desiree had sent him from Amity Park, Minnesota to the Lake Eerie coastline in Michigan, a place said to contain not only lake monsters but a large assortment of ghosts. From this point on, no one was going to convince Danny that Desiree didn't have a sense of humor.

Unfortunately, judging by the looks of his surroundings, the rest of the world was just as trashed as the area surrounding Amity Park. Danny had a pretty good idea of who had destroyed it, and how. Judging by the show of power from his future self right before Sam and Tucker had taken off their amulets, he had tore the world apart after the deaths of his family and friends. He just didn't understand why.

Danny could understand why a person would be upset after their family and all their friends were blown away. He knew that, unless he experienced it, he could never fathom the true depths of that kind of pain but he didn't understand how that pain could be transformed into that kind of hate. How could he destroy the world with extreme prejudice after working so hard to protect the residents of Amity Park? He just couldn't fathom what would drive a person to that kind of action. He had a feeling the answers just weren't going to drop into his lap either. He was going to have to find someone who was willing to hang around long enough to answer his questions and his best bet was a ghost. It suddenly made Desiree sending him to Lake Eerie even more appropriate. If there was one place that Danny Phantom was likely to find a ghost, it would be Lake Eerie.

Still in his ghost form, Danny headed for open water in the hope that he might find something. Soon enough the sound of singing drew him towards what looked like several rocks jutting out of the fog covered water. The voice sounded eerily familiar but, with as strange as this world had been so far he didn't want to yell a name on the off chance that the person singing wasn't who he thought it was.

The boy approached the rocks cautiously, relaxing a little when he caught sight of flaming blue hair and a guitar. That was definitely who he thought it was. Danny swooped down to greet the ghost only to have Ember McLain screech, "You!" when she saw him. A blast an energy from her guitar sent him toppling head over heels until he crashed into the water below with a startled cry. Ember swooped down and sent another wave of energy at him that dunked his head underwater. Danny came up sputtered and struck back with a blast of energy that sent her flipping head over heels further into the sky.

Danny launched himself into the sky after her, hands glowing as he prepared himself for a fight. He'd defeated Ember before but it hadn't been easy, and last time he'd had help from his friends. This time he was on his own. "You aren't fooling me," Ember snarled as Danny barely dodged and shot a blast back at her that she easily slid away from. "You can look little and innocent all you want, but I know the truth, Dan."

"Wait," Danny yelped, dodging another blast of sound. "Ember, this isn't what you think."

"Yeah right," she growled, lashing out yet again, sending Danny slamming into the rocks she'd been playing on earlier. Danny groaned and tried to push himself up only to have the circles of light wash over him, changing him back into a human. Another wave of sound had him flipping head over heels over the rocks and crashing into the water. This wasn't looking good.

"Ember, please," Danny tried, managing to pull himself on to the rocks. "I'm not him."

"As if I'm falling for that again, Phantom," was the former pop star's retort.

"Okay then," Danny muttered before announcing, "I'm going ghost."

"What?" Ember's startled voice reached him just as the transformation finished. "What did you just say?"

"Uh, I'm going ghost?" he offered hesitantly.

"But that isn't possible," Ember muttered, flames in her hair falling to a more manageable level. "You can't go ghost. You are a ghost."

"What?" Danny asked, eyes wide. "Well, that explains a lot." The former pop star floated down cautiously towards him, eyes narrowed.

"How are you here?" she demanded, hands on her hips instead of holding on to her guitar.

"My friends and I were, uh, talking to Clockwork and we ended up in the future and everybody is trying to kill me apparently," Danny ranted, folding his arms over his chest. "Including my jerk of a future."

"Oh man," Ember breathed. "This is not good. We need to get you back to your own time before he gets you."

"My thoughts exactly," Danny agreed and then yelped in surprise as she snatched him off the ground. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you somewhere out of sight where we can talk," she replied. "Don't ask stupid questions kid." Her green eyes gleamed with irritation as she glanced down to make sure he wasn't struggling before pouring on speed. Within minutes, Ember dropped him in front of a cave. Fog twisted around them as Ember landed next to him, hair flickering dimly. "Get up," she ordered. "Because you and I have a lot of talking to do."


	4. Chapter 4

Unlike the area around her Ember appeared mostly unchanged. There was a single silver scar stretching across on cheek but otherwise she looked exactly the same as Danny remembered her. Same hair, same clothes, and even the same guitar clutched almost protectively by her slim hands. Like Desiree, she appeared untouched by the chaos surrounding her. It was a little reassuring to know that somehow he hadn't gotten around to destroying absolutely everything yet. Maybe he would actually get out of this mess and manage to stop this future from ever coming to be. After all, he'd already gotten far more help than he'd ever expected.

"Hurry up," Ember snipped at him. "I don't know how long we've got to talk before he shows up." Danny picked up the pace, scrambling to catch up with the former pop star who had ended up far ahead of him. This whole situation seemed to be making her jumpy and every so often her hair flared wildly out of control before dimming to its usual form again. Furthermore, her hands were clenched tightly around her guitar and every fighting experience he'd had with her made Danny's brain insist that she was about to attack him. He wanted to ask why she was so worried but he already knew the answer. Danny's future self was not someone you wanted to mess with.

Ember waited until they'd reached what appeared to be the back of the cave before whirling around and demanding, "How did you get here?"

"Huh?" Danny mumbled because he hadn't expected that to be the first thing to come out of her mouth. He'd been expecting some kind of trap, or maybe Ember telling him that she was going to put him down now and prevent this whole mess from happening, not a question about how he'd made it to Lake Eerie.

"How did you get here?" she demanded again, one hand poised to slide across the strings of her guitar in order to unleash a blast of energy at him if necessary.

"Desiree," Danny rushed to reply, unwilling to take yet another hit. His body was still healing from the fight with his future self. He didn't need any more bruises to add to his collection.

Ember's eyes widened in response and her hands dropped from the guitar. "Desiree?" she asked, tone just a little skeptical.

"She told me to make a wish," Danny replied with a shrug. "I didn't exactly have time to argue with her about that unless I wanted to be flattened by my future."

"Okay, that's good," Ember said, relaxing a little. "That means we have a little time to come up with a plan that doesn't involve destroying you."

"I'm a little surprised that destroying me wasn't your plan," Danny retorted, folding his arms over his chest. "Because, let's face it, you don't like me very much."

"Because you ruined my plan," Ember replied. "This is bigger than that. The world's a wreck, the Ghost Zone is trembling in terror, and the only one with any chance to stop it is you, so killing you is a last resort."

"That's good to know," the boy admitted, allowing himself to relax a little. It seemed that he and Ember had a common goal. What was that old saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend or something like that? It definitely applied to this situation. It was also the first good thing that had happened to him since he'd ended up in the future. Well, actually the second since Desiree had actually sent him somewhere useful instead of stranding him in the middle of a mountain range or a desert since both of them were technically survivable. "How are we going to get me back to my time?" Danny asked.

"How'd you get here in the first place?" Ember shot back, hands on her hips.

"Whoa, calm down there," Danny said, holding his hands out in an attempt to calm her down. "My friends and I went through one of the time windows in Clockwork's domain and ended up here."

"Your friends and I?" Ember questioned, eyebrows arching. "Where are your friends now?"

"Back to their own time," Danny replied confidently before wilting a little and adding, "I think..."

"How?" Ember demanded eagerly, eyes brightening.

"We were wearing these medallions from Clockwork and when Tucker and Sam took them off, they vanished."

"So take yours off too," the blue haired ghost demanded, lunging forward as if intending to rip the amulet off him.

"H-hey," Danny yelped, scrambling back from her. "Stop it! I can't take the amulet off-"

"Why not?" Ember interrupted, her eyes narrowing at him. "Do you want to get us all killed?"

"If you would have just waited for a moment you would have known that I can't take it off because my future self fused it inside me," Danny snapped at her, eyes suddenly flashing bright neon green. Ember jerked to a stop, scowling as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Well that ruins that idea," she sulked. Ordinarily Danny would have laughed at the expression on her face but right now the situation was too serious to be truly funny.

"Wait a minute," Danny said, eyes lighting up as a thought reached him. "The medallion inside me is one of Clockwork's designs so if we can find him, he should be able to get it out."

"I hate to rain on your parade, but there's just one problem with that," Ember said. "Clockwork is dead."

* * *

Nocturne did not appreciate other beings barging into his domain. The master of dreams had created his abode far away from the other entities that inhabited the Ghost Zone and sent Sleepwalkers to guard the boundaries in order to keep others out. His home was a place of peace and silence, so the sound of the Fright Knight's bellowing echoed across the meadows and fields he had created. The ghost scowled and rose from the middle of a patch of lavender that was a shade of purple not seen on earth, floating towards the annoyance. As one of the oldest ghosts living in the Ghost Zone, Nocturne believed that he had earned the right to live in peace but apparently others disagreed. Were he not, for the most part, a peaceful being, he would have made the Fright Knight and whoever he was working for regret ever bothering the master of dreams.

The star speckled ghost drew himself up behind the stoic forms of his Sleepwalkers and directed an imposing scowl down towards the purple flaming form of the Fright Knight. "What do you require from me, Knight?" Nocturne demanded and relished the sudden silence that his arrival caused.

The flames around the Fright Knight flickered and dimmed for a moment before flaring back to life. "My master requires your presence, Nocturne," the Knight announced as if it was to be the dream master's honor to attend to whatever being he had chosen to serve.

"Does he?" Nocturne inquired, unimpressed.

"He does," was the smug reply.

"And why should I honor his wishes? I am a being of immense power with goals and aims of my own that do not involve bowing to whatever petty being you have deigned to follow."

The Fright Knight's flames grew into almost blinding brightness as his temper flew out of control. "How dare you insult my master?" the Knight bellowed and Nocturne sighed, preparing himself for a pointless and loud rant. "He would destroy you before you could lift a finger to stop him."

"And who exactly is your master?" Nocturne demanded, exasperated. He had been through something similar to this during previous times when the Fright Knight had chosen a new master and therefore knew that the sooner they finished this song and dance, the sooner he could get back to tending to his special flowers.

"That would be me."

That voice, he knew that voice. Nocturne turned his head to take in the sight of someone he had believed to be dead. The former halfa, for Nocturne could tell he had become full ghost at some point, was smirking at the master of dreams. "You," Nocturne said, voice flat. "I thought you were dead."

"You thought wrong," Dan Phantom replied smugly.

The last time the pair had faced one another, Phantom had been struggling to recover from the devastating losses of his family and friends. Nocturne had captured the boy in a dream where his family and friends had survived the blast but that had ultimately led to his undoing. The halfa had realized that this was nothing more than a dream and that realization had allowed him to break free before teaming up with Plasmius to defeat Nocturne. Plasmius had vanished shortly after that and Nocturne had believed that the older halfa had been killed along with his younger counterpart. Now he was finding out how untrue that really was in a terribly inconvenient way. "Whatever you are planning, I want no part in it," Nocturne said after a moment, clearing his expression of any lingering emotion.

"Why not?" Phantom questioned, sounding almost amused by Nocturne's statement."I'm not asking you to hurt anyone. I just need you to slip someone into a dream while I make sure the past happens as planned."

"Time is not set in stone Phantom, regardless of your crude elimination of Clockwork," Nocturne intoned. "Some things are meant to change." Finished with this conversation, Nocturne summoned more Sleepwalkers, gesturing the ghosts towards his unwanted visitors. "Remove them from the premises," he ordered, watching as the Sleepwalkers seized the intruders and began dragging them away.

"You'll help me Nocturne, eventually," Phantom threatened but the master of dreams simply turned his back on the other ghost. The other ghosts could do as they wished. He had a garden to tend to.


	5. Chapter 5

"Clockwork is dead?" Danny asked, knowing his eyes were wide with shock. "How?"

"As if I know," Ember replied with a snort. "No one does, really. There was some kind of massive explosion that destroyed certain parts of the Ghost Zone and then you, well the bigger and badder version of you, came out with Clockwork's staff in your hand and disintegrated it. It was completely insane."

"No kidding," Danny mumbled, glancing down at his shoes. Part of him really wanted to go intangible and sink through to floor to dwell on the shame of something he'd done in the safety and silence of the earth. The rest of him was too worried about his evil future self catching up to him and killing Ember while he was still brooding underground to do so. "So what do we do now?"

"I don't know," Ember admitted, hair dimming a little. She slumped down to perch on the edge of a rock like an overgrown bird and stared at the ground, not looking any more cheerful than Danny felt. A snuffling sound at the entrance to the cave caught their attention and Ember tensed. Danny turned around slowly, straining his eyes against the shadows for any sign of danger. A moment later what looked like a glowing green dog bounded into view on huge paws. It pranced right up to Danny, tail swishing back and forth excitedly, and lapped at his hand a couple times before sitting in front of him and yipping. "Did you happen to bring a pet with you when you switched dimensions?" the former pop star questioned, eyebrows rising upwards skeptically.

"No," Danny replied, confused. The last ghost dog he'd seen was the puppy he'd nicknamed Cujo, but that puppy was a lot smaller than this one.

"Crud," Ember muttered and rose off the rock, settling her hands on the guitar. "Get out of the way Danny. That dog's bad news."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked, reaching out a hand to cautiously stroke the dog's head, grinning a little when the tail began tapping out a rapid drum beat on the floor of the cave. "He doesn't look dangerous."

"Maybe he's not," Ember replied, tone dark. "But Dan Phantom is trying to track you down and my guess is that he's using this fur ball to do it." That statement was enough to have Danny scrambling back from the dog, giving the former pop star enough room to blast it head over heels with energy. The dog landed several feet away from them and let out a low growl, growing into a much larger form that Danny recognized all too well. Apparently Cujo had hit a growth spurt at some point.

"I'm going ghost," Danny announced, allowing the rings of light to wash over him as Ember sent out another wave of energy that held Cujo at bay. Rising up off the ground to float next to the blue haired young woman, Danny joined his attacks with hers, no longer wondering why she'd been so worried about the presence of the dog. In his time, Cujo absolutely adored Danny so it made since that the slightly larger puppy would be working for his evil counterpart. Together the pair drove the dog back out of the cave, the waves of sound making Cujo growl and pin his ears flat against his skull. For a moment the dog turned and paced restlessly back and forth in front of the entrance to the cave, being driven back every time he tried to enter by a wave of sound from Ember's guitar. Then, suddenly, he turned tail and ran, quickly vanishing into the horizon.

"That probably isn't a good thing," Danny mumbled as he floated down to the floor and allowed himself to transform back into a mostly ordinary human boy.

"You're probably right," Ember agreed with a smirk. "That dog probably just ran back to get his master and if you're still here when the big bad wolf arrives we're all in trouble." She chewed on her lower lip for a moment before saying, "You know where Haven is? That little town about a hundred miles from here?" She waited for Danny's hesitant nod before continuing. "That's where Johnny 13 holed up after Kitty, well let's not get into that now. Just head there and tell Johnny I sent you. I'll stick around here and hold Dan off for you."

"Are you sure?" Danny asked, craning his neck so he could look up to where she was floating near the ceiling of the cave. He had a pretty good idea about how powerful his future self was and he didn't think Ember would be able to hold him off for long without taking some serious damage.

"Oh I'm sure. The big guy's had a beating coming for a while now and I wanna be the one to deliver it," came the confidant reply, a wicked smirk crossing Ember's face. "But Danny, don't screw this up because the world's already circling the drain right now and the last thing any of us needs is for you to accidentally cement this future."

"Got it," Danny said, giving her a two fingered salute off his forehead before transforming again and rising into the air. "And Ember, for the record, you're pretty cool."

"You're not so bad yourself," came the amused reply as Danny soared above the fog and began following the road that would lead him to Haven, Michigan.

* * *

Dan floated over the remains of Amity Park, scanning the empty streets of what had once been his home. The locals had fled the town not long after his initial attack, though where they thought they were going to hide was beyond him. Over the years he had systematically worked his way across continents, leaving most the world a shatter shell of its former beauty. Occasionally there were still towns where a few scattered people managed to survive but most gradually faded away due to starvation or were killed during periods of destruction. Personally, the former hero couldn't bring himself to care about them. The only people he'd really cared about had been destroyed in a massive explosion, leaving him free from obligations towards the general human public. Once he'd gotten used to the emptiness, it had really been quite freeing to not have to worry about harming someone when he was fighting.

The sound of barking drew his attention and he focused on Cujo who was jumping below him as if trying to grab his cape and pull him back down to earth. Dan smirked and allowed himself to drop suddenly, plummeting towards earth and stopping himself just a few inches above the ground. Cujo hadn't dragged his past self back but judging by the excited spinning, pointing, and running, he'd found the boy. It was the first good thing that had happened since Valerie had helped his pathetic past escape. "Lead the way," Dan said with a sardonic smirk and Cujo yipped at him before running east.

Dan followed, the smoking ruins of Amity Park turning into the desolate landscape of the destroyed earth. The air turned cooler and thick, lower hanging clouds began to form around Dan, forcing the ghost to fly lower in order to keep the dog in sight. The ground underneath them turned to water. Lake Michigan was first and then, around the time the sun would have set, they passed over Michigan and reached the fog coated waters of Lake Eerie. Cujo was slowing down now, a sure sign that they were getting close to their destination. Dan dropped down to fly next to the dog, a wicked grin crossing his face as Cujo stopped in front of the entrance to a cave. It was show time.

"Oh Danny-boy," he called, voice dark and amused. "Come out, come out where ever you are."

"Sorry big bad wolf," a relatively young female's voice responded from the darkness. "But you've got the wrong ghost." A blast of sound echoed out of the cave, sending Cujo flipping head over heels into the water while Dan rocked back a little. "Points for trying though," Ember said, floating into view, hands ready on her guitar. Dan's sharp smirk widened in anticipation of a fight. It would likely be a short one, since the last time he'd faced Ember he'd still be a tiny weakling instead of the powerhouse he had become, but he could work off some of his stress during it. Better yet, Ember probably knew where his puny little counterpart was. Once he was finished beating her, he could work on getting the answers he needed to keep his plan on track.

"Are you gonna stand there smirking like some kind of idiot or are we gonna fight?" Ember demanded, sending out another blast of sound immediately after her statement.

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get," Dan replied, pulling in a deep breath in preparation of unleashing what was quickly becoming one of his favorite powers. Ember's eyes widened in sudden fear as the power of his ghostly wail struck her hard, sending her slamming back into one of the cave walls. Dan took a moment to savor the absolute terror he saw on her face before taking the time to actually saunter inside. This was going to be easier than he had thought.


	6. Chapter 6

Haven, Michigan reminded Danny of those news shows where tornadoes had utterly destroyed a town. All that was missing were the shell shocked looking people wandering out from beneath the crumbled wreckage. His evil counterpart did good work. Well, actually he did terrible work but he did it well. Danny flew lower, searching for any sign of Johnny 13. A curl of cold escaped his mouth and Danny allowed his feet to touch the ground, glancing around him. He was standing in the middle of the street with the remains of Pharmacy on one side and a destroyed house on the other. "Hello?" he called hesitantly. Something about this whole situation was scaring him. Maybe it was the utter desolation of the town or maybe it was the shiver of cold that was continually running up and down his spine. Danny wasn't sure but he knew that he didn't want to stick around to discover the answer.

"Well look what we have here," a sinister voice announced from behind the boy. "Shadow, get him."

Before Danny could spin around something struck him in the middle of the back, sending him flying towards the barely standing frame of a church at the end of the street. Judging by what the voice had said, Danny had managed to find Johnny 13, and the ghost on his back slamming into the huge and slightly crooked oak doors of the church was the biker's shadow. The boy didn't bother with his usual catchphrase, instead simply turning ghost and intangible so the pair passed through the doors to skid across the stone floor before slamming into the crumbling stairs that would lead to the stage. "Get off me," the boy snapped, twisting his body underneath the shadow that pinned him down to the floor.

"Not a chance Phantom," Johnny replied, wheeling into view in a wheelchair. "Not after what you did last time you came around." Green eyes dark, the ghost turned his gaze towards his shadow. "Dispose of him Shadow."

"No, wait," Danny all but screamed, struggling to get free. "You don't understand! I didn't do any of that. At least not yet."

"Save your lies Phantom," the former biker replied, turning away from the boy. "I don't want to hear them."

Danny's panicked mind scrambled for something he could say that wouldn't result in his death as Shadow lifted a clawed hand about the boy, a sinister grin crossing its face. "Ember sent me," Danny blurted, going limp in relief when the shadow froze, turning to glance at Johnny.

"What?" the biker demanded, voice low and menacing.

"Ember sent me." Danny repeated the statement like it was a prayer or some kind of protective chant.

"Why would Ember have sent you after me?" Johnny asked, voice just a little bit scared.

"Because I'm from the past," Danny babbled. "I ended up here by accident and I'm trying to get back to my own time. Ember said you could help me."

Johnny hesitated a moment, considering the situation, and then snapped, "Get him up Shadow but keep a hold of him." Danny didn't fight as the shadow lifted him up, claws dangerously close to his throat. He had a feeling that the only way he would get out of this alive would be by going along with Johnny's plan. "You, does Dan Phantom know you're here?"

"Yeah," Danny admitted, turning the name about in his head. This was the second time someone had referred to his evil future self as Dan Phantom instead of Danny Phantom. The boy found himself wondering when he had stopped going by Danny. Was it right after his family and friends had died or had another event triggered the name change.

"This is not good," Johnny muttered and Shadow gave a little hum of agreement. "He's probably tracking you right now."

"Ember said she was going to hold him off as long as she could," Danny offered hesitantly.

"That still doesn't give us much time," Johnny said, tapping his fingers on the arms of his wheelchair. "Let him go Shadow. We have some traveling to do and I'm going to need your help if we're going to get to Scottsdale by sunrise."

"Scottsdale?" Danny asked, struggling to remember where he'd heard the name before. "Wait a minute, you mean Arizona? Why are we going to Arizona?"

"We're going to see the Oracle," was Johnny's reply. "With Clockwork dead, she's the only one that's going to be able to help you."

* * *

Jazz was beginning to worry. At first she'd been angry that Danny had stolen the answers to the C.A.T. but now that he'd been missing for twenty-four hours, anxiety was beginning the trickle in. The C.A.T. test had already come and gone and Danny hadn't so much as stuck his head into the house to yell that he was going to hang out with his friends. Worse yet, the Box Ghost had been seen around and the local ghost hunters had taken him down instead of Danny Phantom. That, more than anything else, told the young woman that her little brother was missing. That's why she was standing in front of the Manson house waiting for someone to answer the door.

"Can I help you Miss?" a man asked when the door finally opened and Jazz smiled her brightest smile at him.

"I certainly hope so. My name is Jasmine Fenton, and I'm here to speak to Sam Manson." The man studied her as if he was sure she was lying and Jazz stared right back, waiting patiently for him to let her in. If this didn't work, she was going straight over to Tucker Foley's house. She already knew that his mother would let her in.

"Please step inside and wait a moment Miss...Fenton, was it?"

"Yes sir," Jazz replied respectfully and stepped inside the house, the man shutting the door behind her.

"I will go fetch Miss Manson," she was told. "Do not touch anything." After being given a glare that implied the man, Jazz suspected his was the Manson family butler, thought she was going to steal something, he turned and walked away leaving Jazz standing in the spacious entryway. She folded her hands carefully in front of her and stared straight ahead, trying not to worry too much. Her little brother was Danny Phantom and she was sure he'd dealt with all kinds of terrible problems. No doubt Sam would cover for him with a convenient lie and she could be reassured, knowing that he was off saving the day.

"Jazz?" Sam Manson's voice shook her out of her thoughts and she turned to see the Goth girl walking hesitantly towards her. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for Danny," she told one of her little brother's two best friends. "I know I was a little harsh yesterday at the Nasty Burger with my message but that doesn't mean he needs to hide out at your place."

"Jazz, Danny isn't here," Sam told her, expression guarded.

"Is he with Tucker then?" Jazz asked, still playing dumb for the time being.

"No," Sam told her, looking worried now. "Hasn't he been home?"

"No." Jazz felt real worry coil in her gut now that she had confirmation that Danny wasn't just running around saving the day as Danny Phantom. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"Yesterday," Sam said. "A couple hours before you accosted Tucker and I outside the Nasty Burger actually. He said there was something he had to grab and he'd meet us back there but he never did." Jazz's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the end of Sam's story. She had a feeling that she wasn't getting the whole story and now was not the time to dance around the point.

"I know Danny is Danny Phantom," she told Sam and watched as the other girl's violet eyes went wide. "So why don't you tell me what actually happened?"

"It's kind of a long story," Sam hedged. "And I'm not sure I should get into it with you, without having Danny's permission."

"Danny could be in serious trouble," Jazz replied. "I think that's more important than you keeping his secret."

"Okay, fine." Sam capitulated with a heavy sigh, grabbing Jazz's arm and tugging her down a hall. "But we're not talking here." Sam led the way to her bedroom, which was decorated in a darker style than the rest of the house. Jazz wondered how many problems that had caused between Sam and her parents over the years. Only once they were inside the younger girl's room with the door pulled closed and the windows shut did Sam turned to look at Jazz. "You said you know Danny is Danny Phantom so I'll get straight to the point," the younger girl said. "Yesterday we ended up meeting this ghost named Clockwork, who is some kind of time master. He told us he had to kill Danny because some time in the future, Danny turns evil and destroys the world. We escaped by one of his portals and ended up in the future, wearing these amulets that we stole from Clockwork. Following me so far?"

"You traveled into the future by accident to escape a ghost that was trying to kill Danny," Jazz summarized and Sam nodded.

"Exactly. When we got to the future, Danny ended up fighting his future self. During the fight Tucker and I had to remove the amulets to avoid being killed and we ended up behind the Nasty Burger," Sam explained. "That was when you showed up. We haven't seen Danny since then."

"So he's still stuck in the future?" Jazz asked, feeling almost sick to her stomach.

"Probably," Sam agreed, not looking any happier about the situation than Jazz felt. "And that means there's nothing we can do to help him."


	7. Chapter 7

Danny's first glimpse of Scottsdale, Arizona was of desert. The adobe houses had stood against whatever powers Dan had used to attack them, though the roofs were missing. Johnny 13's Shadow slowed his pace, the ghost had been pushing Johnny's wheelchair for the duration of the trip, and lowered his altitude, heading for what appeared to be a graveyard. Danny caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a golden human shaped figure perched on the edge of a tombstone. The shadow parked Johnny 13's wheelchair in front of the ghost without hesitation but Danny hesitated at the edge of the graveyard, studying the unfamiliar ghost.

She looked to be a few years older than Jazz, loose gold curls pushed away from her face with a teal headband that look suspiciously like his older sister's. Her eyes were the same gleaming gold as her hair when she looked over at him and her lips slid up into a knowing smile. She lifted a slim hand from under the cloak draped over her body and beckoned him forward, no animosity in her amused eyes. "Danny Phantom," she said when he was floating next to Johnny. "I've been expecting you."

"You have?" Danny questioned uncertainly and that knowing smile widened into a genuine grin.

"Of course," came the amused reply. "They don't call me Oracle for nothing."

"I,uh, I guess not," the boy admitted, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably and she let out a light laugh. "Johnny said you could help me get back to my time."

"I can," Oracle confirmed easily. "In fact, since Clockwork's death there isn't much I can't do."

"Okay?" Danny replied hesitantly, feeling as if he was missing an important piece of information. Oracle's smile turned into an amused smirk as she took in his confused expression.

"Once Clockwork died my powers increased and I became fully dead to replace him," she said, gliding up off the tombstone and reaching over to pat him on the head like he was some kind of puppy. "Don't worry your little head about it. You'll find out everything to do with that in a couple years if this whole situation goes as planned."

"This whole mess is part of a plan?" Danny asked incredulously but Oracle just grinned at him and shook her head a little.

"It isn't my place to explain Danny," she told him. "Now do you want to get home or not?"

"Yes," Danny said, giving her a pathetic look, and she laughed.

"Okay. I need you to close your eyes and relax then. I'm going to reach inside your ghost form and remove the amulet. Once it is out of you, you should be returned to Amity Park in your own time. You will need to be ready for a fight though, because Dan will be coming for the amulet."

"But can't you destroy it or something?" Danny demanded, feeling a wave of panic rush over him. "Because I can't beat my future self. I've tried!"

"No I can't," Oracle replied, her eyes solemn. "There are some things that simply have to happen. But don't worry, you're stronger than you think. Now close your eyes."

Danny hesitated a moment and then obeyed, gasping when he felt something cool reach through him. For a moment he felt his insides twist and squirm, as if they were shifting out of the way of a questing hand, and then something burned as it was being pulled free. Danny's eyes snapped open and he let out a cry of pain as Oracle's hand emerged from his chest, clutching the amulet tight in her small fist. "Good luck, Danny," she said. Then the world around him blurred and he crashed to the ground next to the still standing Nasty Burger in Amity Park. Almost two thousand miles away and ten years in the future, Oracle turned to look at Johnny 13 and said, "If I were you, I would leave now."

* * *

Arizona was one of the last places Dan had expected to track his pathetic past to. Ember had crumbled once his ghostly wail had ruined her vocals cords and managed to get out that she'd sent Danny to Haven, Michigan and Johnny 13. From Haven, Cujo had tracked the so called hero to Scottsdale, Arizona, more specifically to the graveyard he was standing in front of. There was no sign of Danny, but there was a female ghost perched on top of a gravestone humming cheerfully under her breath. "Where is Danny Phantom?" he growled, approaching, but she ignored him. "Tell me," the former hero demanded, voice echoing around them, and then ghost lifted her head to glare at him with piercing gold eyes.

"Why should I?" she said coldly and Dan snarled.

"Tell me where Danny Phantom is and I will refrain from making the end of your after-"

"Shut up and sit down," she ordered, cutting him off mid threat. "Now." Dan hesitated a moment and she grinned wickedly at him, bringing her hands out from underneath the worn brown cloak so she could swing Clockwork's medallion back and forth in front of his eyes. "Or do you not want this?" Dan found himself sitting almost automatically on a nearby gravestone and she smiled smugly at him. "Good. Now perhaps we can speak like civil people instead of you shouting demands like the megalomaniac you want to be."

"What do you want?" he ground out and she smiled at him, gold eyes glimmering mischievously.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Dan abruptly decided he'd had enough and lunged forward, intending to snatch the amulet out of her hand. She moved faster than he had expecting and floated a few feet above him, bright laughter spilling across the morning air. "Nice try, ghost boy," she mocked. "But you're going to have to be faster than that if you want to take this." She dangled the amulet playfully just out of his reach, a wide smirk spread across her bright face, and then abruptly vanished. Dan growled and kicked the headstone she'd been sitting on hard enough that it began leaning precariously backwards. Hanna Marie Weiss, read the headstone. Beloved daughter. 1986-2005. Phoenix, Arizona had been one of the first places Dan had destroyed after Vlad had ripped him free from his human half. The ghost wondered if she'd been killed during the first assault, before he'd completely leveled the area several weeks later when he'd finally grown strong enough to cause all the damage necessary to make it a wasteland.

"You've got quite a temper," the ghost's voice announced from behind him. Instead of turning completely around, Dan simply turned his head. That action earned him a disgusted look on a little girl's face. She appeared to be maybe six now, blonde curls turned straight and bangs cut straight across her forehead, hanging down despite the ever present headband. "You should work on that."

"You could give me the amulet and then you wouldn't have to deal with it," Dan replied, allowing the rest of his body to turn around and face him.

"I don't think so," came the reply. "Not yet." Suddenly the girl was an old woman, curls turned snow white and pinned up at the back of her neck. Wrinkles seemed to grow on her face, multiplying when she smirked at him. Sudden realization struck him. There was only one other ghost that had readily changed age and Dan had killed him, along with those pesky observers. Clockwork.

"How?" he demanded and she let out a rough sounding laugh, features drifting back to the young woman he'd first seen.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Tired of this game already, Dan let a bolt of ectoplasm fly, striking her hard in the chest. She flew backwards out of the graveyard, amulet still clutched in her hand, and landed in a cloud of dust.

Dan towered over her in a instant, voice a low growl as he demanded, "Tell me."

"Some ghosts are important enough to need a replacement," she told him, lips pulled into a sardonic smirk. "Lucky me."

"I've already killed Clockwork," Dan mused. "It shouldn't be difficult to eliminate you as well."

"Probably not," she agreed blithely, sitting off and dusting off her cloak. "But I wouldn't try it."

"Why not?"

"Because I have something you want, remember?" the ghost mocked, dangling the amulet in front of Dan for a moment before tucking it away somewhere beneath the cloak. "And you won't get it unless you answer one simple question for me."

"What question?" Dan grated out, eyes blazing with fury. He didn't enjoy being toyed with. Clockwork had tried it before and Dan had ended the older ghost's existence. He would be all too willing to enact a repeat performance with this replacement if she didn't hand over the amulet.

"When you were first ripped away from your humanity, and you looked upon that terrified little boy," she said, eyes gleaming with something he didn't quite understand. "How did you feel?"

A low, furious growl escaped Dan at the question. He tried not to think about that night, mostly because it reminded him that ripping his ghost half from his human half hadn't made the emotions go away. Instead it had made everything he felt more intense. Ghosts obsessed over things, and part of that obsession involved having an emotional attachment to something. Dan had overlooked that aspect when he had requested that Vlad split him apart for good. "Well?" the ghost inquired, eyes narrowing as she stared impatiently at him. "I'm waiting."

"Betrayed," he grated out and she smirked at him.

"Good job," she praised mockingly, reaching under her cloak and pulling out the amulet before tossing it to him. "And good luck. You're gonna need it."


	8. Chapter 8

Amity Park, Minnesota looked just the way he remembered it before his entire life had apparently gone up in smoke. From floating above it, Danny allowed himself to smile widely for the first time since this entire mess had begun. Everything was still here. People were still wandering around, going about their daily business. The Nasty Burger wasn't quite in one piece but he could see a clean up crew sifting through the wreckage, probably intending to rebuild it soon. At the sight of the local teen hangout, Danny's stomach grumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since before this whole nightmare had began. He needed to go home so he could reassure his parents that he was still alive and the maybe he could grab Sam and Tucker and head to the Nasty Burger to eat. He could tell them everything that had happened while they were eating.

Danny's grin widened and he landed behind the Nasty Burger, allowing the rings of light to wash over him, turning him back into a human. His stomach rumbled almost instantly and his head felt incredibly light. A wide yawn escaped him, reminding him that he hadn't really slept since the first day in that wasteland where he'd passed out after escaping from his future. Maybe he'd take a quick nap when he got home. Then he could talk to Tucker and Sam. It sounded like a decent plan.

The boy did manage to reach his home without stumbling tiredly off the sidewalk and into the road. He pushed the door open,mumbled a hello to Jazz and his mother, both of whom looked like they'd just seen a ghost, and collapsed on the couch, too tired at that point to event attempt the stairs that led to his bedroom. He was almost asleep by the time his mother and sister scrambled into the room to make sure it was really Danny.

"Where do you think he's been?" Maddie Fenton asked, glancing curiously at her daughter.

"I,uh, I have no idea," Jazz said, shooting a wide smile at her mother. "But I think we better let him get some sleep." Danny watched them from beneath mostly closed eyelids. The last thing he saw before he drifted off to sleep was Jazz giving him a meaningful look before leaving the room.

_He was standing in front of Vlad Masters' mansion in Wisconsin, all his worldly possessions stacked around him. Part of him wanted desperately to turn around and go home but he couldn't. There was nothing left for him in Amity Park. His family and friends were long gone, blown away in the explosion of the Nasty Burger. Danny had tried to tough it out at first, staying with Valerie Gray and her father, but he hadn't been able to stand it any longer. What he had lost intruded on his every waking moment in Amity Park. A day ago, Danny had apologized to Valerie and her father before fleeing to Wisconsin, hoping that maybe the only other halfa in existence could help him. This was the hope that had sustained him during the past few days. If Vlad Masters could not help him, then Danny intended to no longer exist after today. He just couldn't go on._

_Vlad welcomed the boy into his home and, when Danny asked for help, promised to do his best. The man made the boy promise not to do anything reckless for a week while he searched for a solution and Danny agreed. It was the least he could do after rudely barging into the man's life. Then Nocturne came through the ghost portal. For a moment Danny had everything back. His mom and dad, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker were all alive and he was completely normal. He had never stepped into the portal, never been turned into a halfa, and never fought every day to save Amity Park. He was just a normal kid and that was what had let him know that everything was a dream. Danny Phantom woke up furious. Together he and Plasmius defeated Nocturne, but by then Danny had reached the end of his rope. He demanded that Vlad either come up with a solution that night or end him permanently. He refused to go on like this any longer._

_From high above the entire situation, Danny watched with Clockwork as Vlad used the ghost gauntlets to rip the ghost out of the young and hurting Daniel Fenton below. Danny gasped as he watched his ghost half rip out Vlad's ghost half and combine with it, rising up stronger than before. He watched, horrified, as the newly created Dan Phantom murdered his human half and blew up the ghost portal, leaving the scene with a maniacal laugh._

Danny jerked awake with a gasp, heart pounding. Was that really what had happened? Had he really been so desperate to demand that Vlad rip his ghost half out? The very thought made his stomach roll. Danny Fenton was just as much ghost as he was human now. That wasn't something that should just be taken from him. The boy shivered at the thought and sat up slowly, stomach rumbling. His home was mostly quiet but he could hear the sound of Jazz turning the page of whatever textbook she was currently reading and his father's excited voice was filtering up from the basement.

Danny stood and headed for the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a container of leftovers from the front, knowing that anything further back could be questionable. A quick inspection showed it was potato soup so Danny stuck it in the microwave before turning to face his sister. Jazz had placed her book down on the table and was studying him intensely, as if looking for something different about him. "We were worried about you," she said after a moment. "You vanished into thin air and even Tucker and Sam didn't know what had happened to you. Mom was six seconds from calling the police and reporting you missing when you walked in the front door."

"I'm sorry," Danny apologized, looking down at his shoes, and Jazz let out a sigh.

"I know that Danny. I was just worried," his sister told him. There was a moment of silence and then the microwave beeped, signalling that his food was done. Danny was reaching for the bowl when Jazz said, "I know Danny, about who you really are."

"What?" Danny demanded, spinning around with his eyes wide.

"I know," Jazz told him, eyes calm. "And I promise I'll keep your secret, but I made Sam tell me where you really were." She hesitated a moment and then asked, "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Danny told her, turning back to the microwave and removing the soup. He blew on it and then dug out a clean spoon before taking a bite. "I'll probably have nightmares for a while, but everyone's safe. That's all I care about right now." Jazz smiled at him and Danny smiled back, sinking down across from her and eating his soup. He was almost finished with it when the screams started.

"I'll clean up in here," Jazz said with a conspiratorial smile. "You go kick some ghostly butt."

* * *

Dan grinned at the chaos below him, relishing in the screams. It wasn't every day that he got to destroy the source of so much of his rage and grief for the second time. People fled before him and the Nasty Burger was in ruins. He let out a dark laugh as he surveyed his surroundings, smirk widening when he caught sight of Sam and Tucker. His two old friends were running towards the danger instead of away from it, a gun in Sam's hand and a Fenton Thermos in Tucker's. "Don't you two ever learn?" he mocked, flashing them a smile with a few too many teeth to be anything but threatening.

"How did you get here?" Sam demanded. "And what did you do with Danny?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Dan returned with a sinister grin and then winced a little when he realized what he had said. He was echoing the ghost from whom he had obtained Clockwork's amulet. It was irritating, but he could worry about that later.

Sam let out a snarl in response to his statement and fired a blast from the gun that Dan easily dodged. He smirked down at her, amused by her anger. Sam had always had a certain spark that had attracted his attention before her death and while any true affection he'd had for her had long died out, buried under grief and angry and betrayal, he could still admire her tenacity. "You can't stop me Sam."

"It doesn't mean that we can't try," Sam retorted, firing the gun again. Dan let out a long suffering sigh in response and aimed a blast of ectoplasm at them, forcing them to dive aside in order to avoid being killed.

"Hey old man," a voice called cheerfully from behind him. "How about a blast from your past?" Then little Danny Phantom slammed into him hard, sending the two of them crashing to the ground. The boy rolled away quickly and launched himself into the air with a grin the practically dared Dan to come after him. The full ghost obliged with a snarl, more than ready to end this. It was time to show this pathetic weakling who exactly he was dealing with.

The two exchanged a flurry of blows, Danny taking more damage than his vicious counterpart. Despite his size, Dan Phantom had retained most of his swiftness, making it difficult for the smaller of the two to avoid many hits. An almost spiteful blast of ectoplasm while Danny was still reeling from a blow to the head sent the younger Phantom plummeting earthward. He hit the ground hard, making a dent in the middle of the road. A moment later, when the cloud of dust around the boy faded away, Dan descended with a smirk, green-white fire cupped carefully in one palm. In a moment the fight would be over, leaving Dan free to ensure that the future remained just as it was.

"You can't stop me Danny," he told the boy he'd once been, smirk firmly in place. "You're not strong enough, and me? I'm inevitable."

"Maybe I can't stop you," the boy croaked out, green eyes determined. "But I'm not alone." As if she'd been waited for that very moment, Sam blasted Dan, sending him tumbling back in surprise as she scrambled over to help Danny up.

"How sweet," Dan mocked. "But you should know better than to think this makes you safer. After all, getting rid of your pesky friends is at the top of my to do list." He watched in amusement as the boy's eyes widened, laughing at his fear. It was all so pitiful. Danny couldn't stop him. Whether the boy liked it or not, the future was going to come to pass, just as Dan had said.

"You don't touch them," Danny snarled suddenly, and it was as if something had snapped inside him. The sound that escaped the boy was nothing short of Dan's ghostly wail, sending the overconfident ghost crashing to the ground.

"But that's not possible," Dan gasped, eyes wide with shock. "I don't get that power until ten years from now."

"I guess the future isn't as set in stone as you thought," Danny replied, standing over his evil counterpart with a grin on his face. "Maybe you should think on that for a while in time out." The boy's grin was the last thing Dan saw before he was sucked into a heavy duty Fenton Thermos.

Thousands of miles away, a girl with blonde hair woke with a gasp, wide gray eyes searching about her for any sign of danger before she relaxed into the covers. "Just a dream," she murmured, tugging her blankets more firmly around her shoulders. "It was just a dream." She knew better of course, but that was enough to convince her still sleepy mind to allow her to drift off to sleep. The danger was over, for the time being. She could discuss the repercussion of this with Clockwork in the morning.


End file.
